Mall Terror Drills

Practice makes perfect, and terror drills being conducted at Mall of America and other malls across America have increased rapidly since 9/11. These drills feature various terror scenerios including active shooters, bombings, and nuclear devices by local, state, federal, and foreign entities. *Not a complete list of mall terror drills

Mall Terror DrillsMall: Mall of AmericaDate: September 20, 2002Agencies: Rozin Security LLC Location: Minnieapolis, MinnesotaNotes: Drill incuded a bomb planted by terrorists that exploded at the mallTitle: Mall Of America To Hold Terror Training ExerciseDate: September 20, 2002Source:Brainerd Dispatch Abstract: The Mall of America and local authorities on Sunday night will conduct a large-scale emergency response exercise based on the idea that a bomb planted by terrorists exploded at the mall.

There will be fake smoke, two fake deaths and 28 fake injuries.

It will be the largest emergency exercise in the mall's history and the first to test response to a terrorist act. About 120 fire, police and emergency personnel will participate.

The mall will not be evacuated, but customers will be kept away from its south side, where the incident will be played out. While stores close at 7 p.m., bars, restaurants and movie theaters will stay open.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, law officers and elected leaders came to believe the megamall would be a likely target in the unlikely event that terrorists focused on Minnesota.

"I would probably rank it as the No. 1 symbol of America within Minnesota, simply because of what we stand for, our lifestyle, our way of life," said attorney William Michael Jr., former terrorism coordinator and national security coordinator for the U.S. attorney's office in Minneapolis (Brainerd Dispatch, 2002).

Abstract: Less than a week
after the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, one of the
largest antiterror drills ever in New England will test how public safety
officials deal with some of their worst fears all at the same time.

The nightmare
scenario starts with an explosion in a basement lab in Everett, jumps to a
threat to the liquefied natural gas facility in Everett, and mushrooms to
multiple explosions, one involving a radioactive "dirty bomb," inside
the CambridgeSide Galleria mall, according to a memo obtained by the Globe
yesterday.

Finally, as patrons
flee the mall, at least one improvised explosive device is found at the nearby
Lechmere MBTA station, according to the memo outlining Operation Poseidon,
scheduled for the morning of Sunday, Sept. 17.

The drill, which will soon be announced to
minimize public alarm, ends with a fictional 25 dead and 150 wounded.

Law enforcement
officers, firefighters, and paramedics will re spond to each incident. An
undetermined number of people will pretend to be customers at the mall, riders
on the T, and possible terrorists.

Sponsored by the state Executive Office of
Public Safety and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino's Office of Homeland Security,
the exercise is designed to bring together federal, state, and local agencies,
as well as hospitals and the National Guard, to coordinate and improve how they
respond, communicate, and work together to tackle the fast-moving series of
threats.

"It's really the best way to
make sure everyone is working well together," said Peter Judge, spokesman
for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Law enforcement, military, federal, and
emergency medical workers, as well as firefighters, will be tested on their
response to a bombing in which there could be secondary devices in multiple
locations and how they "identify potential suspects who may continue to
linger in the area following an initial blast," the memo said.

Officials at the CambridgeSide Galleria said
the exercise is scheduled to start around 4 a.m., well before the mall opens
that day at 11 a.m. In addition, the mall's neighbors have been notified by the
Cambridge Fire Department.

The last high-profile terrorism training
event in Boston happened in June 2005 with the simulation of a terrorist
hijacking of an airliner en route from Paris to Chicago, the first US drill
involving the real-time intercept of a commercial airliner by military jets.

More than 50 federal,
state, and local agencies participated in the $750,000 exercise, paid for by a
federal homeland security grant. More than 80 volunteers, posing as hostages,
spent two hours in the air. Once F-15 fighter jets forced the United Airlines
plane to land at Logan International Airport, the hijackers detonated a
"bomb" in the plane's cargo hold, "killed" a 14-year-old
girl, and threw a dummy representing her body from the rear door. Police stormed
the plane and arrested five terrorists, and the "injured" were sent
to at least nine area hospitals.

Next month's
exercise, also paid for by grants from the federal government, is expected to
cost much more, with 81 state troopers being paid $78,000 in wages alone, said
Andrew Plunkett, spokesman for the Executive Office of Public Safety.

State and city
officials yesterday could not provide a total price tag or number of
participants.

The exercise combines
a threat to an LNG facility one of the Boston region's biggest vulnerabilities
with a kind of attack that some homeland security specialists fear will be the
next level of terrorism, based on events that have happened elsewhere.

The scenario begins
when Everett police respond to a call from a citizen regarding suspicious activity
at a home, possibly drug-related.

But as police close
in on the home, a van with several men inside is seen leaving the area. This is
followed by an explosion in the basement of the home, where police quickly find
a laboratory.

Police find evidence suggesting
that the Distrigas facility and an LNG tanker in Everett have been targeted by
terrorists. The Mystic River becomes the focal point, and the Coast Guard
secures the LNG terminal and tanker.

Julie Vitek, a
spokeswoman for Distrigas, said the company conducts at least one safety or
security drill a month at the Everett facility.

"LNG is as safe,
if not safer, to transport and store than other fuels that come into Boston
Harbor and other ports every day," she said yesterday. "However, our
company has always had a deep commitment to safety and security. And we have
worked closely with local, state, and federal officials regarding both our
day-to-day operations and safety and security drills."

As the exercise
continues and "as activity and anxiety surrounding the discovery in
Everett generate more interest and involvement," there are two explosions
at the CambridgeSide Galleria. One blast is in the crowded food court, followed
by another near a central escalator. The scenario says that one of these bombs
will be a "dirty" bomb with a radiological source that could
contaminate the surrounding area.

Responding officers
will tend to the wounded and also be reviewed on their ability to identify any
suspects.

Former federal
antiterrorism official Richard A. Clarke and others say that low-tech terrorist
attacks on shopping centers, amusement parks, and other public places could
devastate the US economy and change society.

Finally, according to
the exercise, at least one device will be found at the Lechmere Station on or near
the platform, instead of inside a bus or rail car.

Officers will be
judged on how quickly they evacuate the area and isolate the device.

After the exercise, all the responding
agencies will be evaluated and given feedback.

"Operation
Poseidon is an important test of our region's interoperable communications,
emergency operations, and response capacity," Jennifer Mehigan, a
spokeswoman for Menino, said in a statement (Security Info Watch, 2006).

Abstract: The Mall of America security team will be doing monthly lockdown drills to ensure they are ready if and when trouble strikes. They had their first drill earlier this week, shortly after the mall opened.

This exercise and approach to preparedness is one that I’m hoping other shopping mall managers across the country will take notice of and consider adopting.

Last month you might recall, Spike TV’s Surviving Disaster, featured an episode on how to survive and escape an active shooting by a group of terrorists in a shopping mall (National Terror Alert (DHS), 2009).

Abstract: Fire crews and hospital staff carried out an exercise in Barnsley yesterday to test the emergency response to a terrorist attack in South Yorkshire.

The scenario was that a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) device had exploded in the Meadowhall shopping centre and crowds of people with radiation burns needed to be treated.

Volunteers were showered in "decontamination" tents at Barnsley Hospital before being allowed in the hospital's emergency department.

Mike Lees, head of emergency planning at Barnsley Hospital, said: "Exercises like this are all about gaining experience for the future, for the time when we have to deal with real, large-scale emergencies" (Yorkshire Post, 2010).

Title: Terror Drill Executed At Local MallDate: September 16, 2011Source:WCVB TVAbstract: Local and state
police are going over the results of a terror drill at a local mall. The Auburn Mall was
shut down and transformed into a real-time scenario on Sunday. The simulated
situation involved several suspects taking hostages inside the busy mall.

Federal and state
authorities practiced techniques developed in the aftermath of 9-11. Explosive detection
dog teams also tested their abilities. Volunteers played the roles of suspects
and witnesses (WCVB TV, 2011).

Title: 'Emergency' Planned For Denver On Friday Date: September 21, 2011Source: Denver Business Journal Abstract: Expect some loud noises, smoke and a lot of emergency vehicles Friday in and around Denver.

YouTube-Video

Operation Mountain Guardian, a terrorism-based, full-scale emergency exercise, happens Friday at four primary locations — including Union Station — and six secondary locations.

Operations begin at 5 a.m. and are scheduled to wrap up by 4:30 p.m.

Organizers are warning the exercise will include simulated weapons as well as planned responses from 101 military, police, fire and hospital organizations.

Other locations included in the event are: Park Meadows Mall; Smedley Elementary School; the Lowry campus of the Community College of Aurora; Denver International Airport; Sky Ridge Medical Center; Denver Health Medical Center; University of Colorado Hospital; Catholic Charities in northwest Denver and Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Money for most of the operation comes from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Colorado Governor’s Office of Homeland Security (Denver Business Journal, 2011).